Memory cells having electrically conductive nanodots and apparatus having such memory cells

ABSTRACT

Memory cells having a first dielectric between a charge storage material and a semiconductor, conductive nanodots between the charge storage material and a control gate, and a second dielectric between the control gate and the conductive nanodots.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/357,583, filed on Mar. 19, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,818,760 which issued on Oct. 27, 2020, titled “MEMORY CELLS HAVING ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE NANODOTS AND APPARATUS HAVING SUCH MEMORY CELLS,” which is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/953,698, filed on Nov. 30, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,256,309 which issued on Apr. 9, 2019, titled “MEMORY CELLS HAVING CONDUCTIVE NANODOTS,” which is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/309,186, filed on Jun. 19, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,202,700 which issued on Dec. 1, 2015, titled “CHARGE STORAGE NODES WITH CONDUCTIVE NANODOTS,” which is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/693,062, filed Jan. 25, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,772,856 which issued on Jul. 8, 2014, which are commonly assigned and incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates generally to semiconductor memories and, in particular, in one or more embodiments, the present disclosure relates to memory cells for non-volatile memory devices, the memory cells having charge storage nodes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Memory devices are typically provided as internal, semiconductor, integrated circuits in computers or other electronic devices. There are many different types of memory including random-access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), and flash memory.

Flash memory devices have developed into a popular source of non-volatile memory for a wide range of electronic applications. Flash memory devices typically use a one-transistor memory cell that allows for high memory densities, high reliability, and low power consumption. Changes in threshold voltage of the cells, through programming (which is sometimes referred to as writing) of charge storage nodes (e.g., floating gates or charge traps) or other physical phenomena (e.g., phase change or polarization), determine the data value of each cell. Common uses for flash memory include personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), digital cameras, digital media players, cellular telephones, and removable memory modules.

A NAND flash memory device is a common type of flash memory device, so called for the logical form in which the basic memory cell configuration is arranged. Typically, the array of memory cells for NAND flash memory devices is arranged such that the control gate of each memory cell of a row of the array is connected together to form an access line, such as a word line. Columns of the array include strings (often termed NAND strings) of memory cells connected together in series, source to drain, between a pair of select lines, a source select line and a drain select line. A “column” refers to a group of memory cells that are commonly coupled to a local data line, such as a local bit line. It does not require any particular orientation or linear relationship, but instead refers to the logical relationship between memory cell and data line. The source select line includes a source select gate at each intersection between a NAND string and the source select line, and the drain select line includes a drain select gate at each intersection between a NAND string and the drain select line. Each source select gate is connected to a source line, while each drain select gate is connected to a data line, such as column bit line.

As memory densities increase, issues with data retention, program saturation and trap-up tend to worsen. For example, while polysilicon charge storage nodes have been commonly used for years, they tend to become impracticable as their thickness becomes too thin, e.g., around 50 Å (5 nm). For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for alternative memory device architectures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a memory device coupled to a processor as part of an electronic system, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic of a portion of an example NAND memory array as might be found in the memory device of FIG. 1 .

FIGS. 3A-3E depict a portion of a memory array during various stages of fabrication in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIGS. 4A-4D depict a portion of a memory cell gate stack during various stages of fabrication of a charge storage node in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which is shown, by way of illustration, specific embodiments. In the drawings, like numerals describe substantially similar components throughout the several views. Other embodiments may be utilized and structural, logical, and electrical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The term semiconductor can refer to, for example, a layer of material, a wafer, or a substrate, and includes any base semiconductor structure. “Semiconductor” is to be understood as including silicon on sapphire (SOS) technology, silicon on insulator (SOI) technology, thin film transistor (TFT) technology, doped and undoped semiconductors, epitaxial layers of a silicon supported by a base semiconductor structure, as well as other semiconductor structures well known to one skilled in the art. Furthermore, when reference is made to a semiconductor in the following description, previous process steps may have been utilized to form regions/junctions in the base semiconductor structure. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.

Various embodiments include memory cells having a charge storage node between a first dielectric, e.g., a tunnel dielectric, and a second dielectric, e.g., an intergate dielectric, and memory devices and systems including such memory cells. Memory cells of this type are often referred to as floating-gate memory cells or charge trap memory cells. Charge storage nodes of various embodiments include a charge storage material and conductive nanodots capable of storing a charge.

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a memory device 100, as one example of an integrated circuit device, in communication with (e.g., coupled to) a processor 130 as part of an electronic system, according to an embodiment of the disclosure. Some examples of electronic systems include personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), digital cameras, digital media players, digital recorders, games, appliances, vehicles, wireless devices, cellular telephones and the like. The processor 130 may be, for example, a memory controller or other external processor for use in the control and access of the memory device 100.

Memory device 100 includes an array of memory cells 104 logically arranged in rows and columns. At least one memory cell of the array of memory cells 104 includes a charge storage node in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. Although various embodiments will be described primarily with reference to NAND memory arrays, the various embodiments are not limited to a specific architecture of the memory array 104. Some examples of other array architectures suitable for the present embodiments include NOR arrays, AND arrays or other arrays.

A row decode circuitry 108 and a column decode circuitry 110 are provided to decode address signals. Row decode circuitry 108 contains one or more transistors in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure. Address signals are received and decoded to access memory array 104. Memory device 100 also includes input/output (I/O) control circuitry 112 to manage input of commands, addresses and data to the memory device 100 as well as output of data and status information from the memory device 100. An address register 114 is coupled between I/O control circuitry 112 and row decode circuitry 108 and column decode circuitry 110 to latch the address signals prior to decoding. A command register 124 is coupled between I/O control circuitry 112 and control logic 116 to latch incoming commands. Control logic 116 controls access to the memory array 104 in response to the commands and generates status information for the external processor 130. The control logic 116 is coupled to row decode circuitry 108 and column decode circuitry 110 to control the row decode circuitry 108 and column decode circuitry 110 in response to the addresses.

Control logic 116 is also coupled to a cache register 118. Cache register 118 latches data, either incoming or outgoing, as directed by control logic 116 to temporarily store data while the memory array 104 is busy writing or reading, respectively, other data. During a write operation, data is passed from the cache register 118 to data register 120 for transfer to the memory array 104; then new data is latched in the cache register 118 from the I/O control circuitry 112. During a read operation, data is passed from the cache register 118 to the I/O control circuitry 112 for output to the external processor 130; then new data is passed from the data register 120 to the cache register 118. A status register 122 is coupled between I/O control circuitry 112 and control logic 116 to latch the status information for output to the processor 130.

Memory device 100 receives control signals at control logic 116 from processor 130 over a control link 132. The control signals may include a chip enable CE #, a command latch enable CLE, an address latch enable ALE, and a write enable WE #. Memory device 100 receives command signals (which represent commands), address signals (which represent addresses), and data signals (which represent data) from processor 130 over a multiplexed input/output (I/O) bus 134 and outputs data to processor 130 over I/O bus 134.

Specifically, the commands are received over input/output (I/O) pins [7:0] of I/O bus 134 at I/O control circuitry 112 and are written into command register 124. The addresses are received over input/output (I/O) pins [7:0] of bus 134 at I/O control circuitry 112 and are written into address register 114. The data are received over input/output (I/O) pins [7:0] for an 8-bit device or input/output (I/O) pins [15:0] for a 16-bit device at I/O control circuitry 112 and are written into cache register 118. The data are subsequently written into data register 120 for programming memory array 104. For another embodiment, cache register 118 may be omitted, and the data are written directly into data register 120. Data are also output over input/output (I/O) pins [7:0] for an 8-bit device or input/output (I/O) pins [15:0] for a 16-bit device.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that additional circuitry and signals can be provided, and that the memory device of FIG. 1 has been simplified. It should be recognized that the functionality of the various block components described with reference to FIG. 1 may not necessarily be segregated to distinct components or component portions of an integrated circuit device. For example, a single component or component portion of an integrated circuit device could be adapted to perform the functionality of more than one block component of FIG. 1 . Alternatively, one or more components or component portions of an integrated circuit device could be combined to perform the functionality of a single block component of FIG. 1 .

Additionally, while specific I/O pins are described in accordance with popular conventions for receipt and output of the various signals, it is noted that other combinations or numbers of I/O pins may be used in the various embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a schematic of a NAND memory array 200, e.g., as a portion of memory array 104. Memory array 200 may be formed in a common conductively doped region (e.g., a common p-well) formed in a semiconductor.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the memory array 200 includes access lines, commonly referred to as word lines (which may comprise commonly coupled control gates 2021 to 202N) and intersecting data lines, such as bit lines 2041 to 204M. For ease of addressing in the digital environment, the number of word lines 202 and the number of bit lines 204 are generally each some power of two.

Memory array 200 includes NAND strings 2061 to 206M. Each NAND string includes transistors 2081 to 208N, each located at an intersection of a word line 202 and a bit line 204. The transistors 208, depicted as floating-gate transistors in FIG. 2 , represent non-volatile memory cells for storage of data. At least one transistor 208 has a gate stack having a charge storage node in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. The floating-gate transistors 208 of each NAND string 206 are connected in series source to drain between one or more source select gates 210, e.g., a field-effect transistor (FET), and one or more drain select gates 212, e.g., an FET. Each source select gate 210 is located at an intersection of a local bit line 204 and a source select line 214, while each drain select gate 212 is located at an intersection of a local bit line 204 and a drain select line 215.

A source of each source select gate 210 is connected to a common source line 216. The drain of each source select gate 210 is connected to the source of the first floating-gate transistor 208 of the corresponding NAND string 206. For example, the drain of source select gate 2101 is connected to the source of floating-gate transistor 2081 of the corresponding NAND string 2061. A control gate of each source select gate 210 is connected to source select line 214. If multiple source select gates 210 are utilized for a given NAND string 206, they would be coupled in series between the common source line 216 and the first floating-gate transistor 208 of that NAND string 206.

The drain of each drain select gate 212 is connected to a local bit line 204 for the corresponding NAND string at a drain contact. For example, the drain of drain select gate 212 ₁ is connected to the local bit line 2041 for the corresponding NAND string 2061 at a drain contact. The source of each drain select gate 212 is connected to the drain of the last floating-gate transistor 208 of the corresponding NAND string 206. For example, the source of drain select gate 212 ₁ is connected to the drain of floating-gate transistor 208N of the corresponding NAND string 2061. If multiple drain select gates 212 are utilized for a given NAND string 206, they would be coupled in series between the corresponding bit line 204 and the last floating-gate transistor 208N of that NAND string 206.

Typical construction of floating-gate transistors 208 includes a source 230 and a drain 232, a floating gate 234 as a charge storage node, and a control gate 236, as shown in FIG. 2 . Floating-gate transistors 208 have their control gates 236 coupled to a word line 202 (e.g., the control gates may be commonly coupled to form a word line). A column of the floating-gate transistors 208 are those NAND strings 206 coupled to a given local bit line 204. A row of the floating-gate transistors 208 are those transistors commonly coupled to a given word line 202.

FIGS. 3A-3E depict a portion of a memory array during various stages of fabrication. FIG. 3A depicts a portion of a memory array after several processing steps have occurred. In general, FIG. 3A may depict a semiconductor 305 upon which portions of future gate stacks of non-volatile memory cells are formed. For one embodiment, the semiconductor 305 is a monocrystalline silicon. For a further embodiment, semiconductor 305 is a conductively-doped monocrystalline silicon. Other embodiments may include amorphous silicon, polycrystalline silicon (commonly referred to as polysilicon), or other semiconductor materials. Semiconductor 305 may be conductively doped to a first conductivity type, e.g., a p-type conductivity.

As further depicted in FIG. 3A, a tunnel dielectric 310, a charge storage node 315 having conductive nanodots in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure, an intergate dielectric 320, a control gate 325 and a dielectric cap 330 have been formed on the semiconductor 305. These elements will form the gate stacks of future memory cells.

Formation of the structure of FIG. 3A can include formation of the tunnel dielectric 310 over an active region of the semiconductor 305, e.g., an area over which memory cells will be formed. For example, the active region of the semiconductor 305 may include a conductively-doped well of a semiconductor wafer. The tunnel dielectric 310 is generally one or more dielectric materials. The tunnel dielectric 310 might be formed, for example, by thermal oxidation of the semiconductor 305. Alternatively, the tunnel dielectric 310 could be formed by a blanket deposition of a dielectric material, such as by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD) or atomic layer deposition (ALD). Example dielectric materials for tunnel dielectric 310 include silicon oxides (SiO_(x)), silicon nitride (SiN_(x)), silicon oxynitrides (SiO_(x)N_(y)), aluminum oxides (AlO_(x)), hafnium oxides (HfO_(x)), hafnium aluminum oxides (HfAlO_(x)), lanthanum oxides (LaO_(x)), tantalum oxides (TaO_(x)), zirconium oxides (ZrO_(x)), zirconium aluminum oxides (ZrAlO_(x)), etc., and combinations thereof.

The charge storage node 315 is then formed over the tunnel dielectric 310. Formation of the charge storage node 315 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 4A-4D. The charge storage node 315 will store a charge indicative of a data state of the future memory cells.

The intergate dielectric 320 is then formed over the charge storage node 315. The intergate dielectric 320 is generally one or more dielectric materials. For example, the intergate dielectric 320 may include one or more layers of dielectric materials including high-K dielectric materials. Example high-K dielectric materials for intergate dielectric 320 include aluminum oxides (AlO_(x)), hafnium oxides (HfO_(x)), hafnium aluminum oxides (HfAlO_(x)), hafnium silicon oxides (HfSiO_(x)), lanthanum oxides (LaO_(x)), tantalum oxides (TaO_(x)), zirconium oxides (ZrO_(x)), zirconium aluminum oxides (ZrAlO_(x)), yttrium oxide (Y₂O₃), etc. For one embodiment, the intergate dielectric 320 includes an ozone-based formation of hafnium silicon oxide followed by water-based formation of hafnium oxide.

The control gate 325 is formed over the intergate dielectric 320. In general, the control gate 325 includes one or more conductive materials. For one embodiment, the control gate 325 contains a conductively-doped polysilicon. For another embodiment, the control gate 325 contains a metal-containing material. For a further embodiment, the control gate 325 includes a metal-containing material over polysilicon, e.g., a refractory metal silicide formed on a conductively-doped polysilicon. The metals of chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), hafnium (Hf), molybdenum (Mo), niobium (Nb), tantalum (Ta), titanium (Ti), tungsten (W), vanadium (V), zirconium (Zr), and metal nitrides (including, for example, titanium nitride, tantalum nitride, tantalum carbon nitride, tungsten nitride) for metal gates are generally recognized as refractory metal materials. For another embodiment, the control gate 325 contains multiple metal-containing materials, e.g., a titanium nitride (TiN) barrier over the intergate dielectric 320, titanium (Ti) as an adhesion material over the barrier, and tungsten (W) over the adhesion material.

The dielectric cap 330 can be formed over the control-gate 230 to act as an insulator and barrier layer to protect the control gate 230 during subsequent processing. The dielectric cap 330 contains one or more dielectric materials and may include, for example, such dielectrics as silicon oxides (SiO_(x)), silicon nitride (SiN_(x)), and silicon oxynitrides (SiO_(x)N_(y)). For one embodiment, the dielectric cap 330 is a silicon nitride, formed, for example, by such methods as CVD. It is noted that additional layers may be used to form the gate stack, such as barrier materials to inhibit diffusion between opposing materials or adhesion materials to promote adhesion between opposing materials.

In FIG. 3B, a mask 335 is formed and patterned over the dielectric cap 330. As one example, a photolithographic resist material could be deposited as mask layer 335 overlying the dielectric cap 330, exposed to a radiation source, such as UV light, and developed to define areas overlying the dielectric cap 330 for removal.

Following this patterning of the mask 335, exposed portions of the dielectric cap 330 and underlying portions are removed in FIG. 3C, such as by etching or other removal process, to expose the semiconductor 305. More than one removal process may be used where the chosen removal process is ineffective at removing an underlying material. Following removal, one or more gate stacks 337 for word lines are defined. Although FIGS. 3A-3E depict only memory cells, the select gates (not shown in FIGS. 3A-3E) may be formed of the same gate stacks 337, with the exception that the control gate 325 and charge storage node 315 would typically be shorted together to act as a single conductive entity.

In FIG. 3D, source/drain regions 340 are formed generally adjacent the tunnel dielectric 310, such as by conductive doping of portions of the semiconductor 305 exposed in FIG. 3C. A channel region of a memory cell is defined by the area of the semiconductor 305 between the source/drain regions 340. Source/drain regions 340 will generally have a conductivity type different than the conductivity type of the semiconductor 305. The conductivity types may be opposites. For example, for a p-type semiconductor 305, the source/drain regions 215 might have an n+-type conductivity.

In FIG. 3E, dielectric spacers 345 may also be formed. As one example, a blanket deposit of some dielectric material, e.g., silicon nitride, is formed overlying the gate stacks 302, followed by an anisotropic removal of the blanket deposit to form the dielectric spacers 345. The resulting structure depicted in FIG. 3E includes series-coupled memory cells, such as those of a NAND string. However, it will be readily apparent that memory cells may be formed for an alternate array architecture using the gate stacks 337.

FIGS. 4A-4D depict a portion of a memory array during various stages of fabrication of a charge storage node in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. In FIG. 4A, a charge storage material 450 is formed over the tunnel dielectric 310 overlying the semiconductor 305. The charge storage material 450 is generally one or more materials capable of storing a charge. For one embodiment, the charge storage material 450 is a silicon-containing material. Examples include polysilicon, amorphous silicon and monocrystalline silicon. The charge storage material 450 may be an undoped or conductively doped material. For example, the charge storage material 450 might be a polysilicon material having a p-type conductivity. Conductively doping semiconductor materials, such as monocrystalline silicon, amorphous silicon and polysilicon, may be performed subsequent to formation or concurrent with formation.

For one embodiment, the charge storage material 450 has a thickness of approximately 10 Å to 100 Å (1 nm to 10 nm). For a further embodiment, the charge storage material 450 has a thickness of approximately 30 Å to 50 Å (3 nm to 5 nm). It is recognized that the variability of industrial fabrication will inherently produce minor variations in thickness such that a process seeking a particular thickness, e.g., 30 Å (3 nm), will likely produce thicknesses cell-to-cell that are above and below that particular value.

As depicted in FIG. 4B, an oxide 455 may be formed on the charge storage material 450. For example, where charge storage material 450 is a silicon-containing material, the oxide 455 might represent a native oxide formed on a surface of the silicon-containing material. Alternatively, the oxide 455 might represent an oxide formed on the silicon-containing material by such methods as thermal oxidation, CVD or PVD. For one embodiment, the oxide 455 has a thickness of approximately 5 Å to 10 Å (0.5 nm to 1 nm).

In FIG. 4C, the oxide 455, or alternatively, the surface of the charge storage material 450 if no oxide 455 is formed, may be nitridized. The nitridation is represented by arrows 465. The nitridation seeks to provide a barrier 460 between the charge storage material 450 and the subsequent formation of nanodots. For example, where charge storage material 450 is a silicon-containing material, the nitridation may form a barrier 460 of silicon oxynitride if an oxide 455 is formed, or form a barrier 460 of silicon nitride if no oxide 455 is formed. Such nitridation can serve to mitigate interaction of the future nanodots with either the barrier 460 or the charge storage material 450, e.g., to inhibit over silicidation of a silicon-containing barrier 460 or charge storage material 450. For one embodiment, the barrier 460 has a thickness of approximately 5 Å to 10 Å (0.5 nm to 1 nm). Some example processes for carrying out a nitridation include direct plasma nitridation and ammonia anneal.

For an alternate embodiment, a nitridized barrier 460 may be formed on the charge storage material 450 directly, such as a nitride or oxynitride formed on the charge storage material 450 by CVD, PVD or atomic layer deposition (ALD) without performing a nitridation of an oxide 455 or charge storage material 450. For example, a silicon-rich ALD silicon nitride may be formed as the barrier 460 on the charge storage material 450. Furthermore, the oxide 455 may serve directly as the barrier 460 without nitridation where the properties of the oxide 455 provide mitigation of interaction between the future nanodots and the charge storage material 450. Regardless of its form, e.g., an oxide, nitride, oxynitride or other material, the barrier 460 is generally some material chosen to provide mitigation of interaction between the charge storage material 450 and future nanodots. As such, the barrier 460 may be eliminated where interaction between the future nanodots and the charge storage material 450 is not a concern, for example if the two materials are non-reactive. For some embodiments, barrier 460 is a dielectric material

In FIG. 4D, nanodots 470 are formed on the barrier 460. The nanodots 470 generally contain one or more conductive materials. For various embodiments, the nanodots 470 contain metal. For example, the nanodots 470 may represent elemental metals, e.g., titanium, tantalum, tungsten, ruthenium, rhodium, platinum, etc., or metal alloys thereof. Alternatively, the nanodots 470 may represent metal nitrides, e.g., titanium nitride, tantalum nitride, tungsten nitride, ruthenium nitride, rhodium nitride, platinum nitride, etc., metal silicides, e.g., titanium silicide, tantalum silicide, tungsten silicide, ruthenium silicide, rhodium silicide, platinum silicide, etc., or combinations of any of the foregoing. For example, titanium nanodots might be formed over a silicon-containing barrier, such as silicon oxynitride, and subsequent processing may form at least some titanium silicide through reaction between the titanium nanodots and silicon of the silicon-containing barrier or of an underlying silicon-containing charge storage material, such that the nanodots would contain at least elemental titanium and titanium silicide.

Nanodots 470 may be formed, for example, by CVD, ALD, PVD, etc. The nanodots 470 generally represent discrete formations of conductive material, e.g., metal-containing material, such that while some individual nanodots 470 may be adjoining one another, there will be portions of the barrier 460 (or charge storage material 450 where barrier 460 is eliminated) that will remain exposed between the nanodots 470, and the nanodots 470 will not form a contiguous conductive entity. Accordingly, if an integrate dielectric, such as dielectric 320, is formed over the nanodots 470, it may form on such exposed portions of the barrier 460 and/or charge storage material 450. For one embodiment, a density of the nanodots 470 is approximately 1E12/cm² to 1E15/cm². For a further embodiment, the density of the nanodots 470 is approximately 1E13/cm². For one embodiment, the nanodots 470 have a thickness of approximately 20 Å+/−10 Å (2 nm+/−1 nm). Charge storage material 450, barrier 460 (if utilized) and nanodots 470 collectively define a charge storage node 315. Formation of a memory cell using the charge storage node 315 of FIG. 4D can proceed as described with reference to FIGS. 3A-3E.

CONCLUSION

Non-volatile memory devices have been described utilizing memory cells including a charge storage node having conductive nanodots over a charge storage material. This differs from prior memory cell structures having nanodots embedded within a charge storage material and provides a more distinct interface than forming the nanodots directly on a tunnel dielectric.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that any arrangement that is calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. Many adaptations of the embodiments will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly, this application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the embodiments. It is manifestly intended that the embodiments be limited only by the following claims and equivalents thereof. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A memory cell, comprising: a tunnel dielectric comprising silicon dioxide overlying a semiconductor material; a silicon-containing charge storage material overlying the tunnel dielectric; a silicon oxynitride barrier overlying the silicon-containing charge storage material; metal-containing nanodots overlying the silicon oxynitride barrier; an intergate dielectric overlying the metal-containing nanodots; a control gate overlying the intergate dielectric; and source/drain regions in the semiconductor generally adjacent the tunnel dielectric.
 2. The memory cell of claim 1, wherein the silicon-containing charge storage material comprises polysilicon.
 3. The memory cell of claim 2, wherein the polysilicon is conductively doped.
 4. The memory cell of claim 1, wherein the metal-containing nanodots comprise at least one metal selected from the group consisting of titanium, tantalum, tungsten, ruthenium, rhodium, and platinum.
 5. The memory cell of claim 4 wherein the metal-containing nanodots consist of ruthenium.
 6. The memory cell of claim 1, wherein the silicon-containing charge storage material comprises polysilicon conductively doped to a p-type conductivity, and wherein the metal-containing nanodots comprise elemental ruthenium.
 7. A memory device, comprising: an array of memory cells comprising a plurality of strings of series-connected memory cells; and a controller for access of the array of memory cells; wherein each memory cell of a particular string of series-connected memory cells of the plurality of strings of series-connected memory cells comprises: a tunnel dielectric overlying a semiconductor material; a silicon-containing charge storage material overlying the tunnel dielectric; a nitridized barrier overlying the silicon-containing charge storage material; a plurality of nanodots overlying the nitridized barrier, wherein the plurality of nanodots comprise an elemental metal; an intergate dielectric overlying the plurality of nanodots; a control gate overlying the intergate dielectric; a first source/drain region in the semiconductor material generally adjacent one end of the tunnel dielectric; and a second source/drain region in the semiconductor material generally adjacent an opposing end of the tunnel dielectric; and wherein, for each memory cell of the particular string of series-connected memory cells, at least one source/drain region of that memory cell, selected from a group consisting of its first source/drain region and its second source/drain region, is connected to a source/drain region of an adjacent memory cell of the particular string of series-connected memory cells.
 8. The memory device of claim 7, wherein a first memory cell of the particular string of series-connected memory cells has its second source/drain region connected to the first source/drain region of an adjacent memory cell of the particular string of series-connected memory cells, wherein a last memory cell of the particular string of series-connected memory cells has its first source/drain region connected to the second source/drain region of an adjacent memory cell of the particular string of series-connected memory cells, and wherein each remaining memory cell of the particular string of series-connected memory cells has its first source/drain region connected to the second source/drain region of a first adjacent memory cell of the particular string of series-connected memory cells, and has its second source/drain region connected to the first source/drain region of a second adjacent memory cell of the particular string of series-connected memory cells.
 9. The memory device of claim 7, wherein, for each memory cell of the particular string of series-connected memory cells, the tunnel dielectric for that memory cell comprises silicon dioxide.
 10. The memory device of claim 7, wherein, for each memory cell of the particular string of series-connected memory cells, the intergate dielectric for that memory cell comprises hafnium silicon oxide.
 11. The memory device of claim 10, wherein, for each memory cell of the particular string of series-connected memory cells, the intergate dielectric for that memory cell comprises more than one dielectric material.
 12. The memory device of claim 7, wherein, for each memory cell of the particular string of series-connected memory cells, the silicon-containing charge storage material for that memory cell comprises polysilicon conductively doped to a p-type conductivity, and the nanodots for that memory cell comprise at least one elemental metal selected from the group consisting of titanium, tantalum, tungsten, ruthenium, rhodium, and platinum.
 13. The memory cell of claim 12, wherein, for each memory cell of the particular string of series-connected memory cells, the plurality of nanodots for that memory cell consist of elemental ruthenium.
 14. The memory cell of claim 12, wherein, for each memory cell of the particular string of series-connected memory cells, nanodots of the plurality of nanodots for that memory cell have a thickness in a range of 2 nm +/−1 nm.
 15. A memory device, comprising: an array of memory cells comprising a plurality of strings of series-connected memory cells; a plurality of data lines; and a controller for access of the array of memory cells; wherein each data line of the plurality of data lines corresponds to a respective string of series-connected memory cells of the plurality of strings of series-connected memory cells; wherein each string of series-connected memory cells of the plurality of strings of series-connected memory cells comprises a respective first memory cell selectively connected to a source and a respective last memory cell selectively connected to its respective data line; wherein each memory cell of a particular string of series-connected memory cells of the plurality of strings of series-connected memory cells comprises: a tunnel dielectric overlying a silicon-containing semiconductor material; a silicon-containing charge storage material overlying the tunnel dielectric; a nitridized barrier overlying the silicon-containing charge storage material; a plurality of nanodots overlying the nitridized barrier, wherein the plurality of nanodots comprise an elemental metal; an intergate dielectric overlying the plurality of nanodots; a control gate overlying the intergate dielectric; a first source/drain region in the semiconductor material generally adjacent one end of the tunnel dielectric; and a second source/drain region in the semiconductor material generally adjacent an opposing end of the tunnel dielectric.
 16. The memory device of claim 15, wherein the silicon-containing charge storage material of a particular memory cell of the particular string of series-connected memory cells is electrically isolated from the silicon-containing charge storage material of an adjacent memory cell of the particular string of series-connected memory cells by a dielectric spacer overlying the silicon-containing semiconductor material.
 17. The memory device of claim 16, wherein the dielectric spacer is a first dielectric spacer, wherein the adjacent memory cell is a first adjacent memory cell of the particular string of series-connected memory cells, and wherein the silicon-containing charge storage material of the particular memory cell is electrically isolated from the silicon-containing charge storage material of a second adjacent memory cell of the particular string of series-connected memory cells by a second dielectric spacer overlying the silicon-containing semiconductor material.
 18. The memory device of claim 15, wherein the elemental metal is ruthenium.
 19. The memory device of claim 15, wherein, for each memory cell of the particular string of series-connected memory cells, the silicon-containing charge storage material for that memory cell comprises polysilicon conductively doped to a p-type conductivity, the nitridized barrier for that memory cell comprises a silicon oxynitride, the intergate dielectric for that memory cell comprises hafnium silicon oxide, the intergate dielectric for that memory cell comprises more than one dielectric material, and the plurality of nanodots for that memory cell comprise at least one elemental metal selected from the group consisting of titanium, tantalum, tungsten, ruthenium, rhodium, and platinum.
 20. The memory cell of claim 19, wherein, for each memory cell of the particular string of series-connected memory cells, the plurality of nanodots for that memory cell comprise elemental ruthenium nanodots.
 21. The memory cell of claim 20, wherein, for each memory cell of the particular string of series-connected memory cells, the elemental ruthenium nanodots for that memory cell have a thickness in a range of 2 nm +/−1 nm. 